Chapter 305 Princess Zhaoning
Xiyan's knuckles turned white as she clutched her brocade robe. Her throat felt as if it were tangled with waterweed, and she struggled to articulate:
"How can you... determine that I am Princess Zhaoning?"
The sunlight streamed over her pale cheeks, illuminating her almond-shaped eyes, which were wide open in shock.
Xie Lan took out a white handkerchief from his sleeve and gently wiped away the water droplets on her forehead, his tone as calm as before:
"A Zhan returned to the capital a few days ago and mentioned that he had met a woman in Tianqi who bore a striking resemblance to my mother when she was young. At first, I didn't take it seriously, but when he told me you were from Southern Zhao and about the same age as my younger sister..."
He paused.
"Back then, after my father returned to the palace, he ordered people to search for her within a hundred miles of Blackwater Lake for many days, but they found neither her alive nor her body. At that time, I thought, perhaps my sister was still alive."
"So, we brothers went together to the old house of your adoptive parents."
Xie Zhan suddenly came over, his eyes flashing with excitement, and took out a swaddling cloth from the cabin.
Although the swaddling clothes have gone through the years, you can still see the dark patterns flowing on the Shu brocade background - the fine gold thread is embroidered with the unique Southern Zhao pattern of nine phoenixes facing the sun.
"The weaving method and pattern of the Shu brocade on this swaddling cloth are all unique to the Southern Zhao royal family. Therefore, we will bring the swaddling cloth back to the palace and have Aunt Yao, who is by the Empress Dowager's side, identify it."
His voice suddenly softened:
Back then, it was she who, at the behest of the Imperial Grandmother, threw you into the Black Water Lake. But out of pity for your day-old birth and your royal blood, she wrapped you in swaddling clothes and placed you in a wooden basin, leaving you to drift and abandon to fate. She even secretly embroidered the character 'Zhao' (Zhao) on the inner quilt of the swaddling clothes.
Xiyan suddenly grabbed the swaddling clothes and stroked the small words with her fingertips.
Memories suddenly flooded back. When I was seven years old, my adoptive mother took out this swaddling clothes to wash while sorting out the bottom of a box. However, within ten days, my adoptive parents died of sudden illness one after another.
By the time she had taken care of the funeral, the swaddling clothes had disappeared.
"I've seen this swaddling cloth." She looked up at her two brothers, and tears welled up in her eyes as she recalled her adoptive parents.
"But this swaddling cloth disappeared when I left home. How come it is in your hands now?"
Xie Lan's eyes gradually became solemn:
"It seems that someone wanted to expose your identity and deliberately led us to the Li family's old house, where we found this swaddling cloth. When the emperor learned that you might still be alive, he ordered us brothers to come to Tianqi to take you back to the court."
Xiyan looked puzzled: "Then how did you know I was in trouble today?"
Xie Zhan frowned slightly:
"We've been staying at an inn outside the capital for the past few days, planning to choose a day to come to the capital to find you and bring you back to Nanzhao. My father wanted to conduct a blood test to verify your identity. However, the Yunqiu mutiny happened, so we didn't dare to act on our own. Later, we learned that you were being held hostage by Xiao Beicheng. We originally wanted to sneak into Feiyun Temple, but we were afraid for your life. Just then, someone sent a letter, asking us to wait here this afternoon and that we would definitely meet you."
Xiyan was terrified when she heard this, and she inexplicably thought of Xiao Beicheng.
Didn't Xiao Beicheng know whether the trap he had set up was a knife tip or a stream of water? Why did he deceive Xiao Nanyan and her? Why did he send a letter to the two princes of Nanzhao, telling them to come and pick her up?
Xiyan suddenly remembered that three days ago, on the Yunqiu Paddock, Xiao Nanyan had said that Xiao Beicheng had sneaked into the Nanzhao Palace more than ten years ago and gave the Queen Nanzhao, who was about to give birth, a strange poison, which caused her to be born with a purple body and be regarded as a monster.
So, in other words, Xiao Beicheng might be the only one who knows her true identity.
She suddenly remembered that a few days before her adoptive parents died, a middle-aged man seemed to have come to her house. She had gone out to pick wild vegetables, and when she came back, she saw that there was someone at home, so she didn't dare to go into the house. She quietly hid at the back window, wanting to wait until the stranger left before going in.
She didn't remember what he said to his adoptive parents, but she vaguely mentioned the swaddling clothes. However, after he left, his adoptive parents both died of illness a few days later.
However, she was already seven years old at that time and had a vivid memory. It was obvious that the man was not Xiao Beicheng.
However, she could not forget those eyes, which were cold and ferocious, and intimidating.
Now that I think about it, could it be that Xiao Beicheng used the Xuanyan makeup technique to change his true appearance?
No wonder, when she first met Xiao Beicheng and stared at his sparkling eyes, she always had a sense of déjà vu.
Could it be that the adoptive parents did not die from a sudden illness, but were poisoned by a chronic poison?
But if she was really Princess Nanzhao, why did Xiao Beicheng poison the Queen of Nanzhao back then?
If she guessed correctly, the person who rescued her from Blackwater Lake must be him, because he was the one who poisoned her, and only he could cure it.
It was also he who sent her to live with her adoptive parents.
Apparently, her adoptive mother must have discovered the "Zhao" character while washing the quilt, which sparked her suspicions. After all, Emperor Xie Zhen of Southern Zhao had been searching the country for his daughter for years, even issuing a notice mentioning the embroidered characters on the swaddling clothes, offering a reward of 10,000 taels of gold.
Presumably, her adoptive parents must have known her identity and wanted to find Xiao Beicheng to ask for clarification, but he appeased them with words and then killed them to silence them.
But if you don't want them to know, why leave the swaddling clothes behind?
Or maybe the person who sent her to her adoptive parents' home that year was not the same person who showed up at her adoptive parents' home seven years later?
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